Pharmacoepidemiology of antidepressants in the Russian Federation

Objective. To assess the volume and structure dynamics of antidepressant consumption in the Russian Federation (RF). Materials and methods. Data on the sales of medicines belonging to the ATX class N06A (antidepressants) were downloaded from the IQVIA database in the period 2019–2024. Selected those mentioned in the current Russian clinical guidelines for use in patients with neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders (ICD code F40‑F48). The estimated number of patients who received a one-year course of antidepressants, as well as the number of DDDs/1000 inhabitants per day in each of the follow-up years, was calculated. Results. In the period 2019–2024, sales of antidepressants more than doubled in the RF: 200 million were sold in 2019, while about 500 million DDDs in 2024, which corresponds to 3.8 in 2019 and 9.4 DDDs/1000 inhabitants per day in 2024. The estimated number of patients who received a one-year course of antidepressants increased from 570,000 in 2019 to 1.38 million in 2024. The predominant sales channel throughout the observation period was retail sales, which accounted for 84 % in 2019 to 94 % in 2024 of the total sales in each of the observation years. SSRIs (primarily sertraline and escitalopram) accounted for most sales (up to 75 %) throughout the follow-up. Regional sales correlated with the size of the region’s population. Conclusions. The expansion of the practice of using antidepressants in the RF requires careful collection of safety data both as part of the analysis of the national Pharmacovigilance database and as part of real clinical practice research.